Outdoor movies at Mission Drive-In stir memories, promise

By Scott Huddleston :
May 4, 2013
: Updated: May 5, 2013 2:32am

Aiden Tate, 3, was on hand for the showing of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” after a ribbon-cutting for the new $2.3 million Mission Marquee Plaza at the former Mission Drive-In site.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

A view of the Mission Drive-In Theatre Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

People watch "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

People wait for snacks before a showing of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

People wait for snacks before a showing of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

A view of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

A view of Mission San Jose (background) as people wait for a showing of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

City of San Antonio District 3 Councilwoman Leticia Ozuna (from left), Sophia Gonzales, 7, Arlo Gonzales, 6, and City of San Antonio Cultural Affairs Manager Frank Villani cut the ribbon Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

People watch "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

People wait for the start of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

Joshua Martinez, 10, (from left) and his sister Olive Martinez, 6, play as their cousin Thomas Solis, 8, runs past before a showing of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Saturday May 4, 2013 during the grand re-opening of the Mission Drive-In Plaza.

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Movies returned to the Mission Drive-In late Saturday, proving you don't have to go to a galaxy far, far away for affordable outdoor family fun.

The animated 2008 feature “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and the 2009 live-action “Star Trek” were shown on an inflatable screen to give about 500 spectators a feel for what lies ahead: outdoor showings on the drive-in's original 1940s restored marquee screen.

Councilwoman Leticia Ozuna, a self-described “huge Star Wars nerd,” led a ribbon-cutting on the new $2.3 million Mission Marquee Plaza, part of the 26-acre former drive-in theater site with a stage, the marquee and a two-story structure with restrooms, storage space and a projection room. A mix of functions, including retail and housing, is planned.

Ozuna said the plaza north of Mission San José brings promise to the Roosevelt Avenue corridor and beyond.

“We are demonstrating to all parts of the city there are more reasons to come to the missions,” she said. “Viva the Mission Drive-In!”

Since newly planted grass by the marquee screen needs a few more months to take root, the movies were shown behind the adjacent Mission Branch Library. Some people at the screening had fond memories of the drive-in, which operated up to four screens from 1948 to 2006 and was the last of several outdoor theaters in San Antonio.

Rosie Anguiano, 74, saw Roy Rogers pictures with her older brother and others who would walk in and sit on benches up front.

“Just being here, looking at that screen, it's nostalgic,” she said.

Gerardo Mechler recalled seeing “Beach Blanket Bingo” in the mid-1960s. Before the theater switched to an FM radio frequency to broadcast audio, clunky metal speakers attached to a pole were placed on the driver-side window.

“If that speaker didn't work or had too much static, you'd move to another parking slot,” he said. “You paid by the carload, so you crammed as many people in the car as possible. Everyone didn't have to be wearing a seatbelt back then.”

“Tonight, we just wanted to relive the experience of being out under the stars, seeing a movie,” Mechler added.

The plaza, like the old theater, has a playground.

Once billed as “Texas' most beautiful drive-in,” the Mission sometimes had all-night screenings, and it held sunrise services on Easter Sunday in the 1950s, according to news archives.

The 1966 start of daylight-saving time, followed by the rise of cable television, video rentals and multiscreen indoor theaters, ushered in the end for many drive-ins.

But Frank Villani, cultural affairs manager with the city, said the “landmark gathering place” can generate new memories of everything from children's shows to symphonic concerts.

“This can be an absolutely amazing venue when it's completed,” he said. “It makes the arts accessible to everybody.”